


The Mysterious Cases in Domino City

by MysticElf21



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Crossover, Implied/Referenced Character Death, POV Outsider, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticElf21/pseuds/MysticElf21
Summary: Multiple deaths.  Supernatural insanity.  And not enough proof to show how it all happened.This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we dive into the series of inexplicable events that took place ten years ago in Domino City.
Comments: 22
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic was inspired by browsing through Buzzfeed Unsolved crossovers, and it gave me Ideas. It's based off of the manga continuity, and I have more notes about details of the continuity and the timeline (though I left exact times vague on purpose) at the end.

Two men sat at their desk, papers stacked in front of them. Ryan sat on the right, trying to hold back a grin, and Shane was leaning back in his seat.

"This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we're diving into a series of inexplicable events that took place over about a year in Domino City, about ten years ago." Ryan says, and Shane glances at him.

"And all of these," Ryan said, clearly enjoying himself as Shane began to frown, "are connected back to one Yugi Mutou."

"Wait, Yugi Mutou?" Shane paused. "That's the Duel King. isn't it?"

"Yup. I'm surprised you know about Duel Monsters."

Shane sighed. "Before we get started, I don't believe any of those rumors that it was designed by aliens or that the cards are possessed by spirits or anything like that. Now go on."

"For those of you that don't know-"

"I.E. those of you living under a rock."

"Thank you, Shane. Duel Monsters is a collectible card game that has taken the world by storm, and the best duelists have risen in fame to be celebrities, such as Mutou Yugi, Kaiba Seto, Jonouchi Katsuya, and Kujaku Mai."

"Wait. How come they're all Japanese? I thought this game started in the United States."

"It's taken off in Japan. But there is another reason why all of the most famous duelists are Japanese. Two of the most high-profile tournaments were held in or near Japan."

"So Domino City. Hometown of Kaiba, Mutou, and Jonouchi. Also home to one Domino High School, which is arguably the worst high school in the world."

_Okay but like_

_Aren't all high schools the worst_

_This high school...look_

_It was something_

"High schools aren't created equal in awfulness," Ryan said, "and Domino High School had it _all_ . Even though Rintama, a nearby school, was known to be the one for gangsters, Domino High School had more bullies than a football team, ludicrous levels of violence that everyone just...got away with, _including murder_ , and _cartoonishly_ evil teachers. I cannot overstate that last bit."

"I feel like I'm going to regret asking this," Shane looked at the camera, "but how bad was it?"

"We're gonna talk about the murdered student later," Ryan said, "but one of the teachers was named Ms. Chono. She expelled fifteen students in six months. Among the student body, she was called the Wicked Witch of Expel."

_Are you kidding me? The Wicked Witch of Expel?_

_Who came up with that?_

_Wheeze_

_No really like_

_Did she just really hate her students_

_If so, why become a goddamned teacher if you hate kids?_

_Why?_

_In what world does that make sense?_

_And who let her get away with that? Doesn't someone have to check over expulsions?_

_Shouldn't somebody be like why the hell are you expelling so many students?_

_So basically_

_All the other teachers sucked too, she just sucked the most_

_And apparently the principal had a crush on her_

_And also she would go on dates just to reject men apparently_

_What? Are you kidding me?_

_She's like a caricature of an evil teacher from a kid's show!_

_I did say cartoonishly evil teachers_

"But it doesn't end there. Time to get to the juicy bits."

"Again, all of the weird shit about to go down centers on Yugi Mutou. One kid with dyed and spiked hair-"

"His hair could be an Unsolved episode on its own. Yugi insists it's natural in every interview where he has been asked but I refuse to believe that." Shane said. A picture flashes across the screen. "His hair is three colors! Three! Colors!"

"That's only the start of the weirdness," Ryan said seriously. "He was also short, geeky, and into games and puzzles."

_Or in other words_

_He had a target painted on his back for all bullies_

_A kick me sign._

_One student described it as_

_If there was a bully within a short distance of Yugi_

_They would find him, specifically_

_And they would bully him_

_This apparently happened outside of school too_

_Of course it did_

"Now according to what testimonies we have from Domino High students-I've asked Yugi Mutou's close friends and even the man himself about this, by the way." Ryan said. "All of them refused to answer questions about this in particular."

"And you think that's because they're hiding something rather than because they don't want to be on a show that will accuse them of murder or being aliens."

"It's suspicious!" Ryan insisted.

"Sure it is."

Ryan frowned at his co-host. "Moving on," Ryan said, "two of the first of his many, many bullies were Hiroto Honda and Jonouchi Katsuya."

"Wait, what?" Shane frowned. "Duelist Jonouchi Katsuya? That Jonouchi?"

"Both of these two ended up becoming his best friends."

_WAIT_

_So these guys like beat him up_

_Bully him_

_And then yugi is like haha_

_It's fine we're friends now._

_According to domino high students_

_That is exactly what happened_

"Most Domino High students were mystified at what they described as a sudden change in Jonouchi's behavior, though Honda was apparently more reluctant to befriend Yugi. But this sudden change occurred at the same time as the first of our inexplicable events."

"And you think they're connected."

"I know they're connected." Ryan cleared his throat. "At Domino High, Tetsu Ushio was the hall monitor, known for his physical strength that intimidated pretty much everyone, including the teachers."

"I'd be more scared of his eyebrows." Shane said. "Those things are ginormous." A picture of the man flashed across the screen and confirmed that his eyebrows were indeed giant.

"Ushio would find the kids that were bullied often and offer to help them out with their bullies."

"That sounds noble, but the way you say that…"

"He would then force the victims to pay for his services and then brutally beat them if they didn't pay up."

"I knew it. And since this story is going oh so predictably...he tried it on Yugi, with the bullies being Jonouchi and Honda."

"Stop stealing my lines! But yes. What we know after this is...a lot more sketchy. We know that Yugi ended up standing up for Jonouchi and Honda, cementing the beginnings of what would be a lifelong friendship. We know that Yugi was beaten up for not paying. But...and here's where the weirdness shows up."

"Finally. Hit me."

"The next day after this at school, Ushio was found playing with garbage and dead tree leaves and calling them money."

_Wait WHAT_

_Predictable NOW, shane?_

_Okay fine that was a turn I didn't expect_

_So he was hallucinating garbage to be money?_

_Wait if this was at school so did everyone just see him_

_Hoarding garbage or something_

_Like how would you even respond to that?_

_What do you mean?_

_So there's this terrifying bully and he's holding garbage_

_And he tells you it's money_

_And you're just like, yup! It sure is money!_

_Please don't hurt me_

_wheeze_

_It probably happened that way_

"Before we get to the theories, we have to go over some other incidents."

Shane leveled a stare at Ryan. "Wasn't this just a psychotic break?" Ryan shook his head.

"The incident with Ushio was only the beginning of the mysterious incidents that began to plague Domino High School. After this, bullies at Domino High started going mad. All of them in ways that seemed karmically designed to punish them."

"For instance, a TV director who filmed at Domino High and filmed Yugi getting bullied-the footage has his face censored out but not the hair so it's plainly obvious who it is-was blinded and sees nothing but digital mosaics, the same used in the film to censor Yugi's face."

"That could still be a coincidence."

Ryan pulls out a clipboard. "Sozoji, bullied people into going to his music recitals that were described as being so painful and loud that one student was sick for three days afterwards. Sozoji now hears his own heartbeat in his ears so loud he's practically deaf. Then.." Ryan's eyes fall on the next name on the list.

"Then, since we're going in chronological order-"

"We are?"

"Next comes the murdered kid."

"Oh. Wait. Are we accusing Yugi of murder?"

Ryan paused.. "Maybe?"

"Brilliant. I look forward to getting sued."

"So the story of the murder begins with Domino High's school festival. Yugi's class had pulled a popular spot out of the lottery, and then seniors, led by one Goro Inogashira, came, beat them up, and took the spot."

"And they didn't get punished for that?"

"See earlier note about getting away with murder."

"God, this high school really is the worst."

"The seniors who took over were making okonomiyaki, which is like a savory pancake. It's been called Japanese pizza." Ryan said, gesturing with his arms in a circle.

"And this is relevant how?"

"The seniors put the grill they were using for the okonomiyaki in the festival spot. Traces of explosives and the senior classroom's leader's remains were later found on the grill."

"What the fuck."

"He was blown up with his own grill."

"I repeat. What the _fuck_."

"The school festival continued."

Shane stared at Ryan. Ryan was looking down at his notes. Slowly Shane put his head down on the table. "Tell me there's not more. There is. Isn't there."

"Altogether, there's about 13 incidents that we know of, two of them taking place during Duelist Kingdom. Not at all of them are as firmly connected to Yugi as these though."

"Like what?"

"Well, Ms. Chono got hit with this and ran out of a classroom screaming. A producer started insulting the audience on air while Jonouchi was competing on a competition show, resulting in the producers going bankrupt and being unable to pay the prize."

_Wait so Jonouchi won_

_And then they went bankrupt_

_So he never got the prize_

_I feel bad for that guy_

_If it was Yugi who did it_

_I can just picture him_

_Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly_

_Ooops, Jonouchi!_

_I didn't mean to cheat you out of-let me check_

_One million yen_

_wheeze_

_What's that in dollars?_

_About 95000 dollars_

_Shit_

_That's a pretty good payday_

_I would not have forgiven yugi for that_

_That's fair_

"And a shop owner was poisoned with his pet scorpion."

"Wait, what's the connection for that last scene?" Shane muttered into the table.

"The shop owner found some of his shoes missing afterwards, and while we don't have any direct links proving Yugi was at this scene, buuuut we do have the testimony of a Domino High School student, who stated the following…"

"Jonouchi bragged about those stupid Air Muscle shoes for days afterwards."

"Guess what shoes were missing?"

"Air Muscles."

"Got it."

"That is a really weak connection."

"It's possible!" Ryan protested. "But think about it Shane. _13 incidents_ in which people were...punished, for lack of a better word, in a karmic fashion that all relate back to one Yugi Mutou."

Shane opened his mouth. Then closed it. "And you have theories?"

"Oh yeah I have theories. And none of them involve aliens for once."

"Theory One. Yugi is our metaphorical Carrie."

"As in the Stephen King novel?"

"Think about it! Outcast, bullied, then their enemies are killed or maimed or driven insane or what have you through inexplicable means." Ryan crossed his arms. "You can't tell me there aren't parallels there."

"Yes, but then Yugi would have to have psychic powers." Shane said dryly. "And psychic powers don't exist."

"Really? Then what's your explanation? They can't all have coincidental mental breakdowns. Remember, Goro Inogashira was _murdered_. With the traces of explosives on the scene, there's no way it was an accident."

"Yes, but you're forgetting one thing." Shane said. "Carrie did all of that on purpose because she was vindictive and spiteful. Whereas Yugi is apparently Mr. My Best Friends Were My Bullies."

Ryan raised a finger before lowering it. "He could have lost control of his powers."

"But if he'd lost control there'd be less signs of intent. All of the punishments were _designed_ -the extortionist hallucinated money, the TV producer mosaics, and the horrible singer was driven deaf by sound." Shane says. "That shows intent and purpose. Not what you'd expect if somebody lost control. And that still wouldn't explain Inogashira. Explosives means he didn't blow a guy up with his mind."

Ryan nodded. "The explosives were taken from a chemistry lab."

Shane stared at Ryan. "They had explosives lying around? God. The question is why haven't _more_ students been murdered."

"Anyways," Ryan said, "that's the first theory. Theory Two ties in with my first and it is:Yugi had a second personality."

Shane stood up and started walking away.

"Wait!" Ryan cried. "I have evidence for this, I swear." Shane walked back, a long-suffering look on his face.

"This better be good."

"So, Yugi Mutou is most famous for participating in the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournaments, which," Ryan added, "could both get an episode of their own. Half of the finalists in Battle City were hospitalized. In Duelist Kingdom...between Yugi's incidents, other murders on the island-"

_Wait wait wait_

_Other murders???_

_Okay so_

_A total of about ten people were murdered at Duelist Kingdom by my count_

_…_

_TEN?!?!_

_Why haven't I heard about this before?_

_It was covered up by Industrial Illusions_

_Only one death was reported to the public_

_Maximilion Pegasus_

_His eye was ripped out_

_That sounds disgusting_

_If it helps it was his prosthetic eye_

_It actually does_

_So it's okay to rip someone's eye out as long as it's a fake eye?_

_Shut up_

"Duelist Kingdom had ten casualties. One of which was Maximilion Pegasus, who died after his match with Yugi Mutou. Another was "Bandit" Keith Howard, who was found shot through the head. It is possible that this was a suicide, since Keith was known to show symptoms of depression, but this cannot be confirmed. No bullet was found at the scene of the crime, and so no guns can be reliably linked to the crime through rifling marks. The other eight were found after the tournament had ended and information of their deaths were only released to the public four years after the tournament. Those duelists had been hanged on the island, and afterwards all attempts at investigation were stifled by Industrial Illusions."

"Also during Duelist Kingdom, there were two incidents with the previous M.O. The first was a man who thought he was being controlled by a puppet. The second was a man who hallucinated being hanged himself, suggesting that this was a karmic punishment for the murders he had committed. He also later confessed to those crimes while he had been hospitalized for injuring himself."

_So there were at least three murderers on this island_

_The guy hanging people_

_The guy driving people insane_

_And the guy ripping out people's eyes_

_And a maybe-suicide maybe-murder_

_This is just crazy._

_We haven't even gotten to Seto Kaiba and his connection to Yugi_

_Or Battle City_

_Or_

_Look_

_A lot went down at Duel Monsters tournaments_

_Why do people go there then?_

_Like stop going to Duel Monsters tournaments_

_Apparently if you make it to the finals you have a one-in-two chance of being hospitalized_

_Fame_

_Fortune_

_And you could just get off on it_

_Is that your theory Ryan?_

_People are like_

_Oh I could get murdered_

_Finally a game with high enough stakes to turn me on_

_Wheeze_

_It's possible_

"Okay, but I was promised evidence of a split personality. You haven't delivered."

"I'm getting there," Ryan said. 

"And how come more people haven't talked about this story?" Shane asked. "Three murderers at a single tournament? Come on!" Shane started muttering.

"Cover up." Ryan deadpanned. "What else could it be?"

Shane groaned.

"Also, this tournament...was fishy. For one thing, half of the finalists hadn't even been invited to the tournament."

Shane's groans grew more pained-sounding. "Of course they weren't," he muttered.

"Yugi invited Jonouchi along, and he placed second, with Yugi himself being first. But I've spoken to some of the duelists at the tournament, who saw Yugi duel firsthand. _All_ of them state that Yugi was a completely different person when he dueled. Take, for instance, Insector Haga's testimony, who reported that Yugi told him to 'Get off the island, insect, or I'll pull off your legs one by one!' Which is to say the least, uncharacteristic of him."

Shane banged his head into the table. "God help me, your theories are making sense to me. Maybe I've been driven mad too."

"So yeah. If Yugi had a split personality, he was apparently crueler than the original Yugi, and it's this personality that developed the powers and hurt those people."

Shane raised his head before slumping back onto the table.

"But that's not the last theory I have." Ryan smiled.

"This is the most insane of them all, isn't it."

"Theory Three. Yugi was possessed by a ghost."

"Of course we're going back to possession now."

Two images appeared on the screen. One was of Yugi. The second was of Yugi dueling. "Yugi has red eyes when he duels."

_It could be contact lenses_

_Red eyes_

_Come on_

_That's possession if I've ever seen it_

_Or it could be red contact lenses to go with his already weird taste_

_Like look at what he's wearing_

_He's wearing a fucking collar_

_He would absolutely wear red contact lenses_

_Okay probably_

_But this theory has more evidence going for it_

_Sure it does. Even though ghosts don't exist._

_You're in de-nile_

_Did you just-_

Another image popped up onto the screen. "This was an exhibit at the Domino City Museum on ancient Egypt, featuring exhibits about the reign of the Nameless Pharaoh. Called that because we have no idea what his name is. Notice anything-or should I say _anyone_ -familiar?"

"That's Yugi Mutou's hair." Shane said. "I'd recognize those spikes anywhere. And...that one facing him. That's Seto Kaiba."

"And above them are the Dark Magician and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"Wait, what? I don't see a dragon. Do you mean that clawed thing?"

"It's not very detailed, okay? Go with it for now. Those two are their favorite cards in Duel Monsters, the ones they are famous for using...and this is a 3000 year old tablet."

"Are we sure it's three thousand years old?" Shane said. "It could be a forgery. I don't think carbon dating can be used on stone."

"It's been verified by several experts on ancient Egypt. The one on the right was a pharaoh, and the other his high priest."

"And this relates to Yugi and Kaiba how?"

"Yugi is possessed by the ghost of the pharaoh, who delivers karmic justice because of the eye for an eye thing, and has magic powers because he's a ghost." Ryan nodded, as if that made perfect sense.

It did not.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."

"Look at the carving of the pharaoh again. At his chest."

"The weird triangle thing?"

"Now look at the photo of Yugi Mutou. That pyramid around his neck. He only started wearing it at around the same time that the weird incidents started. And according to Yugi and some other experts I spoke to it's a genuine Egyptian artifact."

_Wait wait what._

_This guy wears gold around his neck?_

_Isn't that super heavy?_

_and stupid to carry around a priceless artifact like that?"_

_If it's cursed, I guess it'd be able to protect itself from thieves._

_Except curses aren't real!_

_Then what's your explanation?_

_…_

_You don't have one, do you?_

_No_

_But that doesn't mean any of your crazy theories are right_

Shane sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Okay. So. All of what you said was completely batshit insane."

"But…" Ryan prompted.

"But I can't say you're wrong." Shane looked physically pained at having to say those words. "I mean, the number of incidents means it can't be explained away as coincidence, there's no mundane explanation I can think of…" Shane now looked like he was choking on a lemon. "You might have a point."

"Yes! And that has been recorded! You can't deny you said it now, Shane."

"I said _might_ , Ryan."

"Well, given that our best theory relies on psychic powers and Yugi and the others that would know aren't talking, we still have a lot of questions."

"Were these people driven mad by Yugi or someone else, purposefully or not? Was Yugi haunted or did he want revenge for himself? Who chose up the deaths of people in Duel Monster tournaments, and for what purpose? Was it only to preserve a company's reputation, or was something more sinister at work? And most importantly of all, is Yugi's hair dyed or not? But despite all of our investigations, the people with answers have chosen to remain silent...and so this case remains unsolved."


	2. The Mysterious Incidents in Battle City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An underground gang forging cards and trading them on the black market. Rumors of corruption within KaibaCorp. Half of the duelists in the Battle City being hospitalized.
> 
> Just what exactly was going on?

"Guess where we are," Ryan said to the camera, flashing a peace sign. "Domino City, considered the capital city of duelists everywhere!"

"Joy." Shane said. "And we are here for…"

"Investigating the Battle City tournament, of course!" Ryan said, making up for Shane with enough enthusiasm for two people. "A lot of people asked for more episodes focusing on duelists or incidents we mentioned in the Domino City episode-"

"And Yugi did in fact come and meet in person with us. He asked us very _kindly_ to take the episode down." Shane shivered. "I totally believe he did it after that."

"We're getting sued, but technically we didn't say anything that wasn't true, nor did we outright say Yugi murdered those people...so we got away with it. Thank you, US slander laws."

"Anyways, Battle City!" Ryan continued. "Let's get started."

"Battle City was a famous Duel Monsters tournament held in 1998, hosted by Seto Kaiba and his company KaibaCorp." As Ryan spoke, pictures flashed on the screen of Battle City duelists and Seto Kaiba himself. "It was divided into three stages:the first part was held in the streets of Domino City, where duelists fought for the right to qualify for the finals. In the end, only eight duelists qualified for the finals. The finalists included Yugi Mutou, the Duel King, Seto Kaiba, Ishizu Ishtar, Malik Ishtar, Namu, Katsuya Jonouchi, Ryou Bakura, and Mai Kujaku." Images of each duelist appeared when Ryan read off their names.

"Two of these names were later revealed to be aliases. Namu was secretly Malik Ishtar and Malik Ishtar was truthfully Rishid Ishtar, Malik's adopted brother."

_But why_

_Do I even want to know_

_You agreed to be here_

_You may regret this_

_But for me this is going to be fun_

"As was later revealed by Seto Kaiba, he had held the tournament in the hopes of accomplishing two main goals. The first was to lure out the Egyptian God cards, the three most powerful cards in Duel Monsters, and each of them one-of-a-kind. They were created by Maximilion Pegasus himself and then hidden away. Rumors have it that they were truly gods sealed away in the cards, resulting in mysterious deaths for multiple Industrial Illusions employees."

_That's stupid_

_What god would trap themself inside a card?_

_Why would you even do that?_

_Like hurr-durr, I'm a god_

_So I'll put myself in a card and at the whims of foolish mortals_

_Even though I have awesome power_

_What god would do that?_

_Yeah, even I have to admit_

_That doesn't quite add up_

_But we do know that Maximilion Pegasus hid these cards_

_And that he may have feared them and even believed them to be gods_

_That's both arrogant and stupid_

_Like arrogant enough to think you could paint a god into a card_

_And stupid as in you would still paint the card_

_Even at the risk of a god coming and striking you down with lightning_

_Pegasus was often considered unstable._

_They say he never got over the death of his wife_

_And that he turned to mysticism and spiritualism in the aftermath_

_So I don't think it's implausible that Pegasus would believe it_

_Especially when there were confirmed deaths at around this time period_

The two men were then shown back in their office, Ryan speaking to the camera. "The second reason was to lure out an organization of criminals known as the Rare Hunters. Thieves and counterfeiters, they were known for stealing and forging Duel Monsters cards and selling them to the highest bidder."

Shane scoffed. "So basically an entire organization of criminals for a card game? How much money could you make off of it in the first place?"

"A rare enough card could go for millions, like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which is so rare there's only four in the world. Well, three, since Yugi mentioned in an interview the fourth got ripped up and is no longer playable. Even other cards such as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon can still go for thousands of dollars."

Shane let out a low whistle. "Ryan, after this, I'm going to check out your card collection and see what we can sell off."

"No, you won't." Ryan sent his co-host a glare. "However, the Rare Hunters were more dangerous than they seem. They have been linked to bombings, murders, and several mysterious disappearances. They were known for wearing dark purple cloaks and being cult-like, with a complete devotion to their leader. Malik Ishtar."

_And there it is._

_Okay, so Malik was going under an alias to hide his connection to the Rare Hunters?_

_That is the general assumption, yes_

_And this was for…?_

_The Rare Hunters wanted the God Cards._

_They were one-of-a-kind after all._

_But then why would his brother impersonate him?_

_To keep attention off of Malik_

_And then his sister…?_

_Wait, is Ishizu Ishtar his sister?_

_Yes_

_But she was actually working against her brother_

"A few days before the tournament began, Ishizu Ishtar mentioned on television that Seto Kaiba would be interested in the ancient Egyptian exhibit. Which, by the way, Shane, establishes another connection between Egypt and the duelists."

"But wasn't Duel Monsters based off of Egyptian hieroglyphics?" Shane said. "It's not weird for people who are into ancient Egypt to also be into Duel Monsters, then. And it's not weird that carvings look similar to certain Duel Monsters. It is not a sign that Yugi is possessed by a ghost."

Ryan pouted. "You just haven't seen the truth yet." He said. "Moving on. We know that Seto Kaiba and Ishizu Ishtar met in the museum. We don't know the details, but we do know two things:one, that Ishizu Ishtar gave Seto Kaiba the Egyptian God card Obelisk the Tormentor. And two, that she persuaded him to arrange the tournament, most likely for similar reasons-to lure out the other God cards and her brother."

_Wait does that mean_

_When she got there_

_She was like_

_YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE_

_Running a criminal organization_

_Leading a cult_

_And being an internationally wanted man._

_You are grounded for the next century!_

_And she went to the trouble of arranging a tournament just so she could tell him so?_

_Wheeze_

_Yup_

_Pretty much_

"The Rare Hunters had already seized the other God cards, so The Winged Dragon of Ra and Sky Dragon of Osiris were with them. Yugi won the Osiris card off of a Rare Hunter, so going into the finals, Kaiba, Malik, and Yugi were all in possession of a God card."

"The finals were divided into two stages. The quarterfinals were held atop a blimp. The semifinals and finals were held on a Duel Tower on an island. It should be noted that the blimp had medical staff and a medbay prepared."

_That's not a red flag at all._

_Noooope._

_Just have doctors up here_

_And a medbay_

_For...um...reasons._

_Nothing suspicious here_

_Wheeze_

"The first duel of the quarterfinals was Yugi Mutou versus Ryou Bakura. Yugi Mutou won, and after this Ryou Bakura was hospitalized."

"With insanity again?"

"No, actually, Ryou was…" Ryan paused and looked at the notes on the table in front of them. "We have to go back for this. Ryou Bakura was hospitalized during the first stage of Battle City for an injury on his arm. He then left against doctor recommendation to participate in the tournament, so his subsequent hospitalization was likely due to that previous injury being aggravated by the duel. We do not have footage of the duel, though. The quarterfinals weren't filmed-likely due to the difficulty of filming atop a blimp-and the semifinals and finals were filmed only partially due to technical malfunctions."

_Do you buy that?_

_Because I don't_

_Yeah, Seto Kaiba is one of the greatest technological minds on the planet_

_And this was his tournament_

_There was something more going on here_

"We'll get to the semifinals and finals later, we still have so much to go through for the quarterfinals." Ryan said.

"The next duel was between Jonouchi Katsuya and the man who had entered the tournament under the name of Malik Ishtar, Rishid. During this duel, Rishid's and Malik's true identities were revealed, and Rishid, in one last ditch effort to uphold his disguise as Malik Ishtar, played a counterfeit version of the Winged Dragon of Ra. After Rishid played that card…"

"Lightning struck."

_...Coincidence._

_It has to be._

_I have to agree with you_

_They were on top of a blimp_

_And both were wearing metal Duel Disks on their arms_

_So it makes sense that both of them could be struck by lightning_

_Wait, both of them were struck by lightning?_

_I thought you meant Rishid was struck?_

_No, both of them were_

_Which is one of the reasons I don't believe in the god theory_

_Why would the god strike Jonouchi down with Rishid?_

_Would be a kind of a jerk move_

_Gods are jerks_

_See?_

_Didn't get struck down with holy lightning, Ryan_

_I'm agreeing with you for once_

_Don't ruin it_

"After the lightning struck, Jonouchi recovered. Rishid attempted to stand up, but collapsed. He was brought to the medbay, unconscious and comatose. The next duel was Mai and Malik Ishtar. Malik Ishtar won, but Mai ended up in a coma as well, with no physical evidence of anything being wrong with her."

"Seto Kaiba versus Ishizu Ishtar was the sole duel of the quarterfinals to end without someone in the hospital. And for the tournament, only Seto Kaiba, Malik Ishtar, Jonouchi Katsuya, and Yugi Mutou were left standing, with Kaiba, Ishtar, and Mutou each having one God card."

"When they arrived at Duel Tower, they all faced off to see who would battle each other. Kaiba has since released the transcript of this duel, showing the moves of each duelist. From this, it is clear who each duelist wanted to battle."

"Jonouchi Katsuya wanted Malik Ishtar to be his opponent. Seto Kaiba and Malik Ishtar wanted to face off against Yugi Mutou. Yugi Mutou is more unclear, but he has said through interviews he had originally wanted to face off against Jonouchi, but Jonouchi persuaded him to trust that he could win against Malik and face off in the finals. They had apparently promised each other to duel in Battle City."

Ryan looked up and over at Shane. "You've been suspiciously quiet."

"I'm just wondering who will get picked off next. It's like watching a horror movie. You know someone's gonna die but you don't know who." Shane said. "And you can't look away, even though it's terrifying, because then you won't know."

Ryan considered this and shrugged. "Well. Everyone lived. As far as we know."

"Just had to throw that 'as far as we know' in there, didn't you."

"The first duel was Jonouchi Katsuya and Malik Ishtar. According to the official transcript of this duel, Jonouchi was in the position to win...and then he passed out."

_God, that sucks_

_Can you even imagine_

_Like you had him, you were almost to the finals_

_And then you pass out_

_It does suck._

_What makes it worse_

_Is that the doctors on site pronounced him dead_

_Though it seems he was later resuscitated_

_What?_

_The guy, he was a freaking teenager_

_And he had all his friends there at the tournament_

_And he almost straight-up died?_

_After he's already been struck by lightning?_

_And then he couldn't duel Yugi...and Yugi would have been heartbroken…_

_I...these guys were kids. And with everything in here and then the last video…_

_I don’t think I realized that…_

_What?_

_Yugi and all his friends were just kids in way over their heads._

_In what seemed like a freaking horror movie_

_With all of their friends getting offed left and right_

Both of the two men were back in the office, sitting quietly for a moment. Then Ryan cleared his throat, going on even as he was still looking down at the desk.

"Seto Kaiba and Yugi Mutou dueled next. This duel was actually filmed partially and released to the public, making it the only duel of the finals we have film available for. Additionally, it was broadcasted to the public. The transmission cut out when Yugi and Kaiba's God cards attacked each other, resulting in the television screens showing the duel shattering."

_…_

_I still hold that gods residing in cards is ridiculous._

_The evidence seems to be piling up though_

_Not enough evidence to get me to accept something like that_

_That's fair, to be honest_

"Yugi Mutou won that duel, even though the film doesn't show that part. The final duel was Malik versus Yugi, and the only film we have of that is the aftermath, when Yugi and Malik are talking to each other and the duel is already over. Surprisingly, Malik and Yugi seemed surprisingly amicable and friendly with each other, despite the fact that a duel with Malik had ended with Yugi's best friend hospitalized."

_I mean_

_Even if Malik was responsible_

_This is Mr. My Ex-Bullies Are Now My Best Friends_

_You're not wrong_

"Now it's time to move onto the theories." Back behind their desk, Ryan leaned forward. "How did these people fall into comas? What exactly is up with the Ishtar family? And what's up with Yugi Mutou?"

"Seto Kaiba too."

"He's going to be an episode in his own right, Shane."

Shane stared at the camera. "He's gonna hire assassins to kill us, isn't he."

Ryan shrugged unconcernedly. "Better make sure your will is in order."

The words "Theory One" appeared on the screen. "Theory One: The god cards are actually gods. We've been over this before, and I personally don't think it's a likely theory."

"Yeah, feel like we agree on that."

"But it's a common enough theory with enough evidence that I would not be doing my job if I didn't mention it. So every single duel in the finals that resulted in injury included a God card. The real Winged Dragon of Ra was played in the Mai vs Malik Ishtar and Jonouchi vs Malik Ishtar. Rishid played a counterfeit. And Yugi summoned the Sky Dragon of Osiris during his duel with Ryou Bakura."

"Ryou Bakura's duel can actually be explained." Shane said. "So can Rishid's."

"Mai and Jonouchi's?"

Shane shrugged. "Whatever happened to the people we talked about in the last video probably happened to them. And those didn't involve God cards."

"Good point." Ryan said. "Anyways, we've covered this one, so onto Theory Two, what I personally think is the most likely."

The words "Theory Two" popped up on the screen. "The Duel Disks were designed as weapons and were being tested in the Battle City tournament."

Shane stared at the camera for a moment before sighing. "Seto Kaiba, please don't kill us."

"Actually, I'm not arguing that Seto Kaiba is responsible for this conspiracy."

"He's in charge of the company." Shane said. "It literally has his name on it. If anyone was testing the potential of Duel Disks for weaponry, wouldn't it be him?"

"Not quite. For this, we'll need to go into KaibaCorp's history. KaibaCorp began as a weapons company, founded by one Gozaburo Kaiba. He had one son, named Noah Kaiba."

"Wait, Noah?"

"Yes, Noah Kaiba. He died in a car accident, but conspiracies about his death linger to this day, the craziest of which-too crazy even for me-is that his mind was uploaded into a virtual reality system and Noah lives on inside a computer."

_Who comes up with these?_

_They besmirch the good name of conspiracy theories everywhere._

_They should at least be remotely plausible._

_Most conspiracy theorists don't have our rigorous standards for evidence_

_And there is no evidence to support that theory_

_Of course, if you ask, they'll just say Gozaburo Kaiba got rid of all of it_

_Anyways, onto my conspiracy theory_

_...in which Gozaburo Kaiba got rid of evidence_

_Wheeze_

"After Noah's death, Gozaburo Kaiba adopted two brothers from an orphanage, Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. In a struggle over control of the company, Seto Kaiba won, and Gozaburo Kaiba threw himself out a window to his death."

Shane blinked. "He what?"

"He committed suicide. However, I think it's strange for him, an experienced businessman, to not only have lost control of his company to a teenager but also to have committed suicide afterwards. By all accounts, Gozaburo Kaiba was a cold, unfeeling man, and not one to be ruled by his emotions."

"And here's where the conspiracy comes in."

"What if he had planned for this, and afterwards, a secret division of his company was still running under his orders?" Ryan said, leaning forward with a glint in his eye. "When Seto Kaiba began to run the company and redirected it all towards the gaming industry, loyalists to Gozaburo and his ideas of inventing new weapons for war might still have remained."

"But Gozaburo is dead, why would he even-"

"To act as cover for corruption within KaibaCorp, or perhaps to spite Seto Kaiba. Seto Kaiba did condemn weapon-making, so to have his own inventions turned into weapons would hurt."

Shane considered this. "Well, less crazy things have been done solely for spite." He said.

Ryan gave him a glance before turning back to the camera. "Evidence for this comes from the Duel Disks themselves, which when used, can cause wind gusts and other effects to go along with the holograms. Leaks have come from KaibaCorp of a Solid Vision that would make the monsters tangible. Both of which can be weaponized."

"But what would all of that have to do with the Battle City Finals?"

"I am so glad you asked. The finalists were isolated, on a blimp, with medical staff on board. Is that the finals of a tournament, or a perfect place for experimenting with Duel Disk settings?" Ryan said. "This could explain the lightning as electrical shocks from the Duel Disks. Ryou Bakura might have been hurt by the Duel Disks' holograms being too real and that was what sent him back to the hospital. It would even also explain the technological malfunctions of the cameras used to film the tournament. Sabotage from the inside, meant to get rid of the evidence."

"What about Jonouchi Katsuya and Kujaku Mai? They were both sent into comas."

"I can explain that." Ryan said. "Some of this has to do with what we will go over in our Seto Kaiba episode, but in short, holograms have been used on people to cause terror to the extent that their heart gives out."

Shane stared at him. "What. Who. Who tested that."

"Seto Kaiba. Like I said, we will get to that."

Shane's eyes widened and he put his head down on the table with a quiet thump, muttering into it. Ryan patted him on the back and then turned back to the camera. "If holograms can be used to scare people to death, could they have such an effect on the mind that they just drive people into comas? I think it's possible."

Shane raised his head from the table. "You're not a scientist, Ryan."

"It's possible." Ryan insisted. "Hey, I thought you'd like this theory. It's very grounded in reality with no magic."

Shane gave him a look. "It's about a secret conspiracy to test weapons and holograms driving people into comas."

Ryan paused. "Oh, yeah, you're right."

Shane sighed. "That was only your second theory. What's your third?"

Perking back up, Ryan rubbed his hands together. "Theory Three," the words appeared onscreen, "is my personal favorite."

"I think I'm just gonna be like this for the rest of the episode." Shane said and let his head drop to the table again. "Get me up when it's over."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "My third theory is that the Ishtars, somehow, share the same psychic powers Yugi does. Since Yugi has had previous incidents follow in his wake, who could say other people couldn't do the same things he did?"

"Sanity. Common sense. Reason."

"Are overrated. The main thing this theory has going for it is this symbol." An eye drawn in gold in the style of ancient Egypt appeared on the screen. "This appears on Yugi's puzzle, but it also appears on a rod that Malik Ishtar was carrying and a necklace that Ishizu was wearing."

"Just to be clear, that's the puzzle you suggested gave Yugi his magic powers, right?" The long-suffering Shane asked.

"Yes. So is this just coincidence-"

"It's an Egyptian design, and both Malik and Ishizu Ishtar are Egyptian." Shane said. "With Ishizu Ishtar specifically being a scholar of ancient Egypt. So yes, it's probably just coincidence."

"Rain on my parade, why don't you."

"That's what I'm here for."

Ryan frowned and turned back towards the camera. "So are the mysterious events of Battle City due to ancient Egyptian magic, a secret conspiracy within KaibaCorp, or gods sealed within cards? All we know is for now this case will remain unsolved."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on the chapter for Seto Kaiba, but that one might take a while, since new wips and plotbunnies have appeared like magic.
> 
> Anyways, notes for this chapter specifically:I mention the Rare Hunters being involved in bombings because Malik used a lot of bombs and I figure he had to have used them before to make so many plans involving them. So. And the disappearances are actually people being mindcontrolled to join the Rare Hunters.
> 
> Also, Ryan was too accurate in the last chapter, I felt, so I had him for the theory he found most believable suggest something completely wrong and dismiss the actually true theory about Noah to balance that out. But Seto Kaiba does experience a burst of paranoia after this episode and investigates KaibaCorp, just to be sure. And about Noah, yes I said this was manga canon. I changed my mind because I thought it was funny, and now it is a fusion of anime and manga canon now.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and comments and concrit are welcome. Don't forget to check me out on tumblr as the Dork Magician Girl.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys be prepared for a LOT of overthinking this manga below. Skip it if you're not interested in the fiddly details of my process and the manga.
> 
> The deaths at Duelist Kingdom:Yes, I listed ten deaths for Duelist Kingdom. There's Pegasus and Bandit Keith, both of whom are killed onscreen. The Player Killer of Darkness doesn't die-at the beginning of the next chapter you see him screaming in the duel box, so it's implied it was only a hallucination Yami inflicted on him. The reason for the other eight deaths is this quote from the PK of darkness:"I've taken the lives...I mean, the star chips of eight people tonight alone!"  
> Given that this guy was violent enough to threaten to choke Yugi, a child, to death, I don't trust him not to have killed those people, so...yeah eight people might have died offscreen at Duelist Kingdom. You can make a case for it, and I wanted to include that possibility in this one-shot.
> 
> Why Aren't Some Incidents Mentioned?: I left out incidents that the Buzzfeed crew would have no way of knowing about. Such as Yami Yugi burning the man alive-it didn't happen at Domino High School, Anzu was keeping her part-time job secret, and given that they were minors I doubt the press would have featured their names in any article on the subject. It would seem sketchy to me at least, though I guess it might be different in Japan. Not to mention it doesn't have Yugi's usual M.O., since he had to come up with the game on the fly-while it does exploit the victim's vice of drinking, it doesn't involve a mental punishment or the premeditation we see in other games. Also, in the manga, it's stated that the people in the restaurant think the crook set himself on fire. As for Kaiba's games...that was too complex to get into here. I also tried to keep it manga-focused, though I think doing some Season zero incidents in a revisited episode or something could be interesting.
> 
> Also, knowledge of the Millennium Items as rare ancient Egyptian artifacts is available, as the Shadi arc proves. So I honestly think it's possible for all of the information Ryan presents in Theory Three to be discovered, based on what we see in the manga. And yes, Yami Yugi does say that line verbatim to Insector Haga in the manga, and Mai notes that "the rumors" are true and Yugi is acting like a completely different person, so the second personality theory also has evidence going for it in-universe.
> 
> Really, the question is why Yugi hasn't been discovered. He's. Not good at covering stuff up.
> 
> Anyways, feedback and comments are welcome! And if you want me to write any follow-ups to this like the Battle City or Seto Kaiba episodes, I'd be willing if I know you guys would be interested. *hint hint drop me a comment below please*
> 
> Also check me out on [tumblr](https://thedorkmagiciangirl.tumblr.com/) as the Dork Magician Girl.


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